US 'deeply' regrets deaths in China Uighur riots

WASHINGTON - The United States "deeply" regrets that some 140 people have been killed in ethnic violence in China's restive Xinjiang region, a State Department spokesman said Monday.
"We deeply regret the loss of life" in Urumqui, spokesman Ian Kelly said. "We call on all sides for calm and restraint."
China said on Monday that at least 140 people were killed when Muslim Uighurs rioted in some of the deadliest ethnic unrest to have hit the country for decades.

The violence in the regional capital Urumqi on Sunday involved thousands of people and triggered an enormous security crackdown across Xinjiang, where tension has long simmered amid Uighur claims of repressive Chinese rule.
Kelly said he expected the region's violence to be discussed in a meeting between Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Wu Dawei.
"I'm sure that we'll raise some of these concerns that we have about the violence in Xinjiang the last few days," the spokesman said.
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